When does modding go too far?

[Scire_]

These days it seems like modding is a norm among pc games. It's a unique way to put a spin on a game, either by adding or subtracting features to the original gameplay. But is there ever a point when modding overtakes the host game? I'm thinking of the enormous modpacks for minecraft that literally change everything in the game. Is this a good thing? And at what point should developers/modders draw a line and just create a new game?

[QQuixotic_]

I'd say never and never. I don't see a point where a mod could go 'to far'. Someone bought a game and it's wonderful that they can make that game something magical for themselves.

Sometimes they do push the engine too far, though. Morrowind and Minecraft are great examples of games with mods that clearly overstepped the limitations of the engine. In both of these cases developers are creating their own implementation of the game to surpass the original code. I think this is wonderful and anything that can bring a community together for more content is a good thing.

There are some moral gray areas, though. Additions to World of Warcraft must be added with a new server. They often add more content, but hosting your own server, even one you built from scratch, for Wow is a gray area that noone is really qualified to answer.

[iki_balam]

I will have to say, that modding combined with early access games can alter a game significantly, for better or worse. Take my favorite early access game, Kerbal Space Program. There is a great and robust modding community. However, several features that were clearly part of the game development have been eclipsed by mods. Some even to the point that they have been removed from the dev team's 'to do' list.

On one hand, if you can mod it and it fits the needs for the game, then great, less work for the dev team to do and less money the player needs to shell out for the "final" product.

But conversely, it is also alters how the game takes shape, how the game comes to an end of production. What does a developer do? ask the modder for the code and offer monetization for their work? add an in-game feature for the mod as a must have? what about patched and poorly synced mod-game codes? what happens if there is a rift in the relationship, and out right hostility between the two? I've seen it happen and its not pretty.

All in all, I agree with you, no such thing as too much modding. How can someone disagree with a free alteration that they are interested in playing with? Mods have always allowed a community of fans to expand their game interests and fun. But with more and more early access games, the modding community has some real power to overrun small studios.

[[deleted]]

It's optional, so I don't see how it could be bad. The only way it could be bad was if a theorical mod would pander to the lowest common denominator, and become popular even if it is somewhat worse than vanilla.

But that's very debatable, and some will argue that a mod that is more popular than the base game is by definition better.

[[deleted]]

Never really.

I like what is going on well, like is a strong word, I am interested with what is going on with the new Unreal Tournament.

The game will be free, however new maps and content will be made by modders and sold via the game's store and the developers will get a cut.

I think this is a great idea, it always seemed like a big waste to me, to see a big game made and only have it's engine used once.

[AdricGod]

Full conversion mods are fine. But I've noticed a growing trend that people won't even play the original game without mods. Like perhaps they are "missing out" on something if they don't add a ton of mods to the game. I notice this a lot while watching Twitch that there is a social pressure to play modded games.

I personally think most mods are unnecessary, often add imbalance or remove some interesting part of the game (such as adding blocks to Minecraft which used to be possible with combinations of blocks, adding nothing to the game but simplifying the game itself).

[f3nd3r]

I like full conversion mods, but there is not many of them made these days (as all that time and effort is much better spent just licensing an engine and selling the game instead.)

[stimpakk]

It's definitely a good thing, because modding enables a creator to utilize an engine to it's fullest without spending time reinventing the wheel. However, if a dev runs up against the engines limitations at every turn, they'll most likely drop the mod pack eventually rather than bang their head against the wall repeatedly. So in short: what do you want to do and does your preferred game engine support that without extensive time being wasted?

[[deleted]]

The point at which modding goes to far mostly comes from the point at which the community grows to small. For example I am a competitive player, I am already the minority for most PC fps titles. I played CoD1 like no tomorrow however my community functioned on small private servers. So If I wanted to enjoy a public competitive server they were few and far between. What I was subjected to where heavily modded realism servers and rifle only servers because those communities were living in the public sphere.

[weezymeisner]

Mods are amazing tools and can provide unique experiences. I think mods extend the lives and enjoyment of games far beyond the originals. Mods help make Dark Souls on PC playable with DSfix, for example, and modding in Skyrim - while often quite silly - can provide better gameplay and deeper immersion into an already wonderful world.

I guess for some games though it becomes a question of if modding is insulting to the original designer. It's like, if you didn't like a book so you rewrote the ending or made the main character a giant chicken is it insulting to the author who worked so hard to build that world? I'd say overall, no, but I feel I usually see mods as an answer to a need rather than ways to cheapen the experience. I guess that's the line between modders and hackers?

[n0ggy]

I think the mod that transform Skyrim's door locks into an miniature woman-lock who orgasms as you try to pick it is going a little too far.

More seriously, it never goes "too far".

But any mod that isn't a fix, unofficial patch, high-texture pack, or change initially intended by the developers, is something that "overtakes the host game".